The First Realty Radio, c. 1950
Before Reality TV, there was Reality Radio, and this is the first Reality Radio programme.
"There are no actors, no script, No warrants, No Probable Cause, NO Constitution,...this is IT!"
Drinking game; Each time a person's Constitutional Rights are violated, you rake a drink. You will be well soused by the end of each programme.
Culver City was where Silent Movies got their start. By 1950, only a few grade B studios remained.
Donn Reed. "Police Recorder". Donn Reed probably thought :Police Recorder was a going career. Who knows? Perhaps, Donn Reed had a Ph.D in "Police Recording" (just press the red button and..."
Did Donn Reed earn a 4 year university degree as a "Police Recorder? How in Heck was Reed allowed to BE there with out being deputised? Answer, he wasn't, and the radio station lawyers probably convinced the station how illegal the activity was,
It also goes to show you how good a professional WIRE recorder could sound. I can imagine Donn Reed losing about 3 reels a night because once the wire lost more than 4 or 5 turns of wire, it was a lot cause.
What I don't get, is how so many people signed a release for their tape to be broadcast! How much money could KNX-AM afford to pay?
Things have changed quite a lot for the better. Still a long way to go, but, with Miranda, Gideon, the Rockefeller Sentencing Laws removed, track marks on an arm are no longer a criminal offence, etc. Yes a lot of people were arrested for a scratch on the arm becayse tgeb they cou Yet things are still pretty bad. In England, P.
C.s do not carry guns, —no fear, they have serious arsenals in the cars, but overall, in England there are a LOT less police shooting deaths, as a London PC learn to use his mouth far better than his gun.
Like Dragnet,there is NO police detective work done here. Suspects are shaken down until that confess. —Innocent of guilty, it matters not. As Joe Friday loves to say,
"Why not just cop out and make it easier on yourself?
The suspect (the one without a lawyer) then asks, " So I get better deal if I confess?"
"No, we make no deals. We will just make sure it gets put down that way for the judge.", Says Joe Friday.
Of course, the frightened suspect grabs on to this as code words for :'YES, you get a better deal' today, we call this copping a PLEA. A legal and dependable way of reducing the charge.
Gideon vs. Florida changed so much because, today, ANYONE can have a free lawyer who will then attempt to cop a PLEA for the suspect. This could have been done in 1950, but there was no legal expertise on YOUR side.